


your words etched on my skin

by thelittleone



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-26
Updated: 2014-12-26
Packaged: 2018-03-03 17:37:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2859257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelittleone/pseuds/thelittleone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on this <a href="http://dondaario.tumblr.com/post/105017946867">post</a>. Even before he knew about the books, Nico's life has been ruled by the world created by J. K. Rowling. Which also meant his love life, apparently. Soulmate AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	your words etched on my skin

Nico was 9 when the gibberish he had adorning his hipbone became clear and the phrase ‘man I cant believe dumbledore died’ was finally understandable. Which, really, it meant nothing considering Nico had no idea who Dumbledore was, when had he died/was gonna die and under what circumstance someone would say that to him. Maybe he would became a famous actor? A politician? An Olympic athlete?

And what kind of name was Dumbledore, anyway?

Nico was 13 when the Harry Potter franchise became popular in his school, just when the fourth movie came out. He and Hazel devoured the books and Nico made his own checklist where he countered all the ones where Dumbledore was pretty much alive. He didn’t know how he felt about knowing that tidbit, like yeah he admired the man and he was such a father figure for Harry but—

When he reached page 711 of the fifth book, Nico flung it to the wall and refused to even pick it up for 2 months, Sirius Black’s death making him too raw, too angry. When he and Hazel got their copies of the sixth book he wondered if maybe Dumbledore died in the last one. He was studying for finals when Hazel barged in the room, her eyes as huge as the moon.

Nico hadn’t finished turning from his desk toward her when she spoke: “He died”

He blinked, his thoughts too sluggish, still caught in formulas. “What?”

“Dumbledore died, Nico”

He stayed there, his gut suddenly full of air, feeling a bit nauseous. He knew this was gonna happen, but still.

He wasn’t upset about the death of the fictional character. He just wasn’t prepared for what it came next, what it meant.

 

Hazel had already found her soulmate, a nice, awkward guy that helped his grandma with her tea shop. He was 3 years older than her, so Bianca had talked to him and they were allowed to hang out but take things slowly. Hazel’s lines where as weird as Nico’s, just a bunch of not quite finished words. Frank’s mumbling explained them afterwards.

The next year was awkward at best.

Nico jumped every time so much as Hogwarts’ headmaster was mentioned, the premiere to the movie (which he attended with Hazel because it was tradition and he couldn’t resist his sister’s pout) was torture. Not the actual film, but the walking out of the cinema felt eternal and he couldn’t seem to turn off the conversations around him. Hazel had felt bad and compensated him with his favorite pasta dish while they watched Friends re runs late at night.

He was at a Harry Potter shop, wondering if he should get The Grim cup for Hazel and how much of his life really revolved around J.K Rowling’s first book series when he heard them. The words.

“Man, I can’t believe Dumbledore died”

Nico turned so fast he felt a little dizzy, his eyes having trouble focusing in the guy. Because that had been very much a male voice, a soft and gravelly voice. A broad blond with a jaw that seemed chiseled was smiling down to him. His hair was short but a bit tousled and he had a nametag.

“Excuse me?”

“Just read the sixth book”, “Jason” said, his nose scrunching up under the thick rim of his glasses. “Can’t still wrap my head around it”

“Oh”, Nico’s heart was erratic, the whole situation just too foreign. “I didn’t really care for it”

Jason’s eyebrows, almost white in his tanned face, disappeared under his fringe. “You didn’t?”

He frowned. “Well, no”

“Oh, sorry”, the clerk scratched his neck and cocked his head slightly to a side. “Are you gonna buy that?”

“What?”

“The cup”, Jason pointed The Grim cup he was gripping with his right hand, his knuckles white. Nico blinked, disoriented.

“Uh, yeah—”

When Jason was 14, still sad about his first breakup, he had asked his sister about soulmates. Thalia who had sworn she wouldn’t ever let her life be ruled by some random words on her skin. Until she met her girlfriend, of course. Reyna had ran the other way when she heard Thalia, and nothing could had pulled Thalia more than a chase.

“It’s not like in the movies, big guy”, she had said, sitting in the kitchen counter. “There are no fireworks, the earth doesn’t stop moving, you know?”, she shrugged, her shoulders almost reaching her ears. “You just freak out”

“And run”

“Shut up. It’s just shocking, hearing the words. Nothing more”, she looked at him, properly looked. “You don’t have to follow the script”

Jason smiled. “I know. It’s not my choice, though”

 

It’s late that night, hours after he stormed out of the shop, white indignation all over him for not being recognized, when Nico realized.

He had said: “Excuse me?”

How common a phrase was that? How many times had Jason probably heard that before? How could he be able to tell, really?

Which meant, it was up to him. It was up to Nico.

Fuck.

 

He told Bianca, mostly because he was pretty sure that if he told Hazel she would probably drag him to buy new clothes to invite Jason to a date or something. Also, because Bianca is brave and wise and Nico felt kind of helpless.

So here he was, in his comfiest Gorillaz t-shirt and with his shaggy hair brushed back, pretending to examine some quills while Jason helped a girl trying to get themed lamps out of a shelf. He pondered his sister’s words, her voice still ringing in his ears. His cheeks warmed but he stood his ground, still awkwardly taking quills and putting them back.

“Buying another present?”

Jason was by his side, smile all white teeth. He had a pale scar over his lip. Nico tried not to zone out on it.

“Yeah, uh— no”, he croaked, flinching at his own words. “Just, uh, considering buying some for me”

“They are cheaper if you buy a few”

“Y-Yeah, but I don’t know if I’ll ever, eh, need so many”

“You can give some to your friends”, he offered, leaning his hip on the display. That was… distracting.

“Uh, yeah, I could do that”

“Do you want anything else?”

“Yeah…”

Jason looked at him expectantly, his eyes too blue, his lips the fucking perfect shade of pink. It did feel like the lottery and he was still too shell-shocked at the fact that he actually won the grand prize.

The guy was probably an asshole. Nico really hoped he was.

“I’m sorry, am I making you uncomfortable?”, Jason’s forehead wrinkled. “Should I give you some space to let you continue shopping?”

He actually looked concerned, his eyebrows all furrowed together. Dammit.

“No— uh, it’s just—”, Nico looked around, lamp-girl had already left and the pretty cashier had probably gone to the back considering she wasn’t behind the counter. “I—, you said you couldn’t believe Dumbledore was dead. Last week”

Jason blinked and changed his footing, standing more upright. “Yeah, I did”, he scratched his neck. “I mean, I get why you said that, like Sirius death was much more shocking, you know? And I was way more mad about that but I never thought—”

“No!”, he tried to ignore his heart rate and really wished his tattoo was somewhere easy to access, like his wrist, and he could just lift his leather jacket and end this struggle. “I mean, yeah, this is— is not about that, it’s just, you said, you specifically said ‘man I can’t believe Dumbledore died’”

“Yeah?”

Nico sighed, trying to push through and ignoring the heat on his face. “And I said ‘Excuse me?’”

“Yeah?”

Nico felt like screaming. “Do— do you by any chance have the words, uh, ‘excuse me’ written in, uh— you know?”

Jason blinked, his face slackening. “Oh”, he looked at him like he was some sort of hallucination and red blossomed in his cheeks. “Oh”

Nico twisted the end of his t-shirt in his hands. “Do you?”

Jason shook and nodded. He covered his mouth with his hand and he stood on his toes, his whole torso gravitating towards Nico.

“Thank you”, he said, voice thick.

“Huh?”

“I— I always knew, uh, that I wasn’t gonna be able to tell when I met my— when I met you”, Jason seemed to get redder by the second, not that Nico minded. “Like, it was so common and it doesn’t come with like a pull or whatever people write about it”, he swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing a bit. “So, uh, thank you, for telling me”

It felt like there was something deeper in Jason’s words, something about choices and the freedom to take them, something like what Bianca had told him. He felt himself smile, still blushing. He looked down to his feet.

“It’s, uh, nothing”, he felt shaky and still a bit out of place but at least he wasn’t the only one.

“Do you— do you wanna go somewhere?”, Nico glanced up and saw Jason scratch his neck again, jittery. “I mean, my shift ends in a few hours but we could go have coffee, or an ice cream—”

“Yeah, that sounds nice”

Jason’s smile blinded him and he felt his chest engulfed in warmth, the skin over his hipbone burning.

**Author's Note:**

> This is [The Grim cup](http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/2014-11/15/14/enhanced/webdr09/enhanced-buzz-3304-1416078089-14.jpg) and i want it so bad. If you wanna message me or anything please go to my [tumblr](bisexualjason.tumblr.com).  
> Also, Jason's mark is on the base of his neck.


End file.
